Elevated Fremantle rookie Michael Barlow looks likely to make his debut in Round 1 against Adelaide after being promoted to the club's senior list.
The Dockers were given the all-clear by the AFL on Tuesday morning to elevate 22-year-old Barlow, who has previously had stints at St Kilda and Essendon without cracking the big time, before being taken by Fremantle at selection No.8 in the 2009 Rookie Draft.
Fremantle coach Mark Harvey has previously indicated he would not be elevating any rookie listed players unless they were ready to immediately step into the action.
But after four sizzling performances in the Dockers' midfield over the pre-season matches, the former Werribee ball magnet looks like getting the chance to test his wares against the Crows.
"I wanted to get into the AFL system," Barlow said at Fremantle's official season launch on Monday night.
"It was a long time coming, and now I am here I just want to make the most of it."
"If I was able to play a game, then I hope I would be able to consolidate a spot and go from there."
"But one step at a time."
Barlow may have to rely on carrier pigeons to tell his family back in Victoria as Harvey said he'd implemented a 'No iPod, no iPhone' policy at the club after seeing his younger brigade of players struggling to communicate effectively with the more seasoned pros.
"It is interesting with the Generation Y coming through now, I watched them around the footy club and they are on iPods and the internet," Harvey said at the launch.
"And I said, 'you have got to interact more with your team-mates'."
"So I have just banned it all now, and told them they can do that when they go home."
"And they are interacting really well at the moment."
Having overseen one of the biggest player cleanouts of recent times at Fremantle after a disappointing 2008, the Dockers have rebuilt through the draft, with 13 youngsters having made their debuts in the last two seasons.
Another nine players, including Barlow, are eligible to play their first games this year and Harvey believes this pressure from underneath will push all members of the squad to greater heights this season after consecutive bottom four finishes.
"We have got the young rat pack … who are taking it up to our older players," Harvey said.
"Now they have got to prove they are ready for selection, and that probably has not been the case for the last few years"
"It is the improvement and how quickly they can do it that is important."
"We have been working as closely as we can to make sure these guys are up to mark as quick as they can so they can compliment some of the older players."
"If the younger players believe in themselves and say I don't care whether I am 18, 19, 20 years old – it does not matter … then that is the sort of dynamics that we need."
Seven AFL clubs nominated rookies who are eligible to play senior football at any time this season before Tuesday's 2pm deadline.
Along with Barlow, they are Jeff Garlett (Carlton), Ben Howlett (Essendon), Garry Moss (Hawthorn), Ben Speight (North Melbourne), Graham Polak and Relton Roberts (Richmond) and Will Sullivan (West Coast).